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Last modified by SuperUwe Trueggelmann on 2026-03-21
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1 = Introduction =
2
3 The cecQAF (CEC Query and Assessment Form) is central to the CEC Certification Process.
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5 After signing the NDA, the cecQAF is used progressively throughout the CEC Certification Process of a Vendor's sustainable product, throughout the different phases of the CEC Certification Process:
6
7 |=Phase|=Function of the cecQAF|=
8 |[[Ordering CEC Services>>doc:CEC Home.C0200a - Request CEC Certification.C0230a - CEC Query and Assessment form ("cecQAF") - Guidance to obtain quotation for CEC Certification.C0235a - CEC Query and Assessment form ("cecQAF") - Guidance to prepare the cecQAF to obtain quotation for CEC Certification.WebHome]]|Define the products and sites the vendor wants to subject to CEC Certification, and for which Product and Site combination the Vendor requests CEC Certificates|
9 |[[Prepare the CEC Assessment>>path:#HPreparetheCECAssessment]]|Capture the data for the Production Sites and Components, such as electricity consumption of each production site, number of product produced by each production site, sustainable content, mass, and dimensions of each Component, transport distances and types of transport (road, sea, air)|
10 |[[CEC Assessment>>path:#HCECAssessment]]|Record form for the CEC Assessment, Corrective Action Plan form.|
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12 The instructions described subsequently are grouped firstly by the Phase and then by the worksheet the Vendor has to complete.
13
14 == General Guidance ==
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16 The worksheets requiring the Vendor to enter data prior to ordering CEC Services have light blue tabs.
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18 The worksheets requiring the Vendor to enter data prior to the CEC Assessment have dark blue tabs.
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20 You can only enter information into the light blue or white fields of the various worksheets, not into the medium or dark blue fields in the vendor sections, nor into the "not blue" sections.
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22 Some areas are greyed out until you enter information elsewhere. For example the fields in the Recycling worksheet are grey until you have defined that you request a certificate for the corresponding Product and Site combination; only then the corresponding fields show a light blue background.
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24 = Prepare the cecQAF for the CEC Assessment =
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26 To prepare the CEC Assessment, the Vendor needs to provide accurate information about the Components, Sites, and Products.
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28 This information will be verified during the CEC Assessment.
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30 The Vendor is not permitted to make changes less than 5 working days before the scheduled start of the CEC Assessment.
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32 The subsequent sections give guidance for entering the required information into the worksheet named in the heading of each section.
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34 == Coversheet ==
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36 Verify the information in the Coversheet Section 1a.
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38 If not completed already, select the correct Unit in the tow "Unit for the Functional Unit":
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40 * "card" for card bodies, IC Cards, personalisation solutions
41 * IC for Integrated Circuits
42 * ICM for IC Modules
43 * kg for plastic films and plastic resins
44 * If you are uncertain what to choose, e-mail [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]]
45
46 Follow the instructions in section 1c.
47
48 == Components worksheet ==
49
50 Enter information for each component that is part of a product the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for.
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52 All blue columns except the CEC Claim ID column must be completed.
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54 In the CEC Claim ID column enter the CEC Claim ID granted to your supplier for this component. Check with your supplier if the component is CEC certified. If the component is not CEC certified, then leave the cell empty.
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56 The information must be correct for the CEC Assessment to be successful.
57
58 == Products worksheet ==
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60 For each Product the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for, enter:
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62 * the Name of the Product, this is the name your company assigns to the product, for example the commercial name your company intends to market the product under. This name will be used to identify the product on the CEC Certificate.
63 * Select the components each Product consists of, using the pull-down menu in each cell. This is the construction that will be assessed during the CEC Assessment.
64 * If you have multiple card constructions to make one product, for example you use overlay from different suppliers when making a card, then define your primary construction (the one sold in the highest volume, or the one initially qualified) as the Product in column C, and the variants in columns D to H. Note that you will just receive one CEC Certificate for a product including its Variants, reflecting the worst case.
65
66 == Sites worksheet ==
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68 For each Site the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for, verify the requested data, including the name and address for each site.
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70 This information will be used on the CEC Certificates for this site.
71
72 == Certificates worksheet ==
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74 Verify the information already entered into the worksheet. E-mail [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]] regarding changes or corrections you think you need to make to this worksheet.
75
76 == Recycling worksheet ==
77
78 === Production waste recycling quota ===
79
80 ==== Information to enter ====
81
82 If you recycle the production waste from producing a specific Product in a specific Site, and you request CEC Certification for the Product and Site combination, then you can enter the recycling quota in % for the production waste.
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84 The recycling quota is the recycled mass from the production waste specific from producing that type of product (for example PVC card) divided by the total mass of the production waste from producing that type of product.
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86 Note that production waste containing plastic material usually has to be sorted by material type (PVC, PET, PETG) to allow for effective recycling.
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88 During the CEC Assessment the feasability of the recycling approach is verified.
89
90 ==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
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92 You need to demonstrate the following to have your claims for recycling of production waste accepted:
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94 * You maintain records about your production waste, including waste categories differentiating different types of plastics (unless you only use one type of plastic) and other materials (like paper or packaging materials)
95 * The amounts of production waste you claim are recylced correlate reasonably with the amounts of waste expected from your production, for example for card producers the amounts of waste resulting from rejects and punch grids/skeletons
96 * You have evidence of shipping the correct amounts of material to your recycling provider
97 * Your recycling provider confirms receipt of the amounts
98 * Your recycling provider provides evidence about the recycling process and the products your production waste is recycled into
99 * If you have no historic data because your recycling process is new, then reasonable assumptions may be found acceptable during the CEC Assessment.
100
101 === Product EOL waste recycling quota worksheet ===
102
103 ==== Information to enter ====
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105 If you recycle the product waste at end of life of a specific Product produced in a specific Site, and you request CEC Certification for the Product and Site combination, then you can enter the recycling quota in % for the Product EOL (EOL = End of Life) waste.
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107 The recycling quota is the recycled mass from the product EOL waste specific to that that product divided by the total mass of the product EOL waste of that specific product.
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109 During the CEC Assessment the feasability of the recycling approach is verified.
110
111 ==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
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113 You need to demonstrate the following to have your claims for recycling of product EOL waste accepted:
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115 * You have control of the collection process, and reasonable assumptions about the effort the collection takes
116 * You have evidence about the collected amounts of material
117 * You have evidence that the collected amounts of material have been forward to recycling providers
118 * Your recycling provider confirms receipt of the amounts
119 * Your recycling provider provides evidence about the recycling process and the products your production waste is recycled into
120 * If you have no historic data because your recycling process is new, then reasonable assumptions may be found acceptable during the CEC Assessment.
121
122 === Yield Loss and Sheet Format worksheet ===
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124 ==== Information to enter ====
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126 The worksheet allows 2 methods to record Yield Loss. The recommended method is Method 1. Method 2 can produce more accurate results, but unless there are substantial differences in yield between products, the significant additional effort in record keeping are not justified by the typically very small differences in the resulting CEC Indicators.
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128 You should enter each of the requested types of Yield Loss in the respective fields.
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130 If you only have one overall Yield Loss number, then enter it in the row for Card format Yield Loss and leave the other two rows empty.
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132 ==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
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134 You at least need to maintain records showing the total amount of material issued to production, the amount of good product produced, and the amount of rejected product. The sum of the amount of good product produced and the amount of rejected product shall match the total amount of material issued to production.
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136 === Transport worksheet ===
137
138 ==== Information to enter ====
139
140 ==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
141
142 === EMS worksheet ===
143
144 ==== Information to enter ====
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146 ==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
147
148 === Site worksheets - sit01 to sit10 ===
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150 ==== Information to enter ====
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152 Additional information about the Sites worksheets is provided [[here>>doc:CEC Home.C0300a - Undergoing the CEC Assessment.C0320a - CEC Query and Assessment form ("cecQAF") - Guidance to prepare the cecQAF for the CEC Assessment.C0326a - CEC Query and Assessment form ("cecQAF") - Guidance - Specific Guidance for Sites sitNN worksheets.WebHome]].
153
154 ==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
155
156 === Component worksheets - cmp01 to cmp40 ===
157
158 ==== Information to enter ====
159
160 ==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
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